Getting Tone

Hey guys, i am looking to get some help on trying to become tone. This is gonna be my new years resolution of trying to go to the gym every other day cuz ive slowed down alot and had been barely going. But yea back to what i was saying lol i want to become "tone". Whats the main contribution to becoming tone, nutrition, workout or something else and how can i accomplish becoming tone the fastest and healthiest way. Im 18...6'2 and about 150lbs. Thanks!

SVT1207 said:

Hey guys, i am looking to get some help on trying to become tone. This is gonna be my new years resolution of trying to go to the gym every other day cuz ive slowed down alot and had been barely going. But yea back to what i was saying lol i want to become "tone". Whats the main contribution to becoming tone, nutrition, workout or something else and how can i accomplish becoming tone the fastest and healthiest way. Im 18...6'2 and about 150lbs. Thanks!

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By tone I assume you mean muscle definition, and if you want muscle definition then you need muscle mass, and if you want muscle mass then you need to lift heavy stuff. Understand?

At 6'2 and 150lbs you essentially need to do 2 things: lift and eat, lots of both.

Try a full-body routine as these are best for beginners.

Eat lots of food, 6 times a day. Protein, complex carbs and good fats mostly, plus lots of fruit and veg for essential vitamins.

Do it.

^^ Agree.

150lb is ~68kg which is underweight at 188cm. Hell it is borderline at 183cm (6').

You need a solid dose of lifting combined with good wholesome food.

Squats, deadlifts, Chinups, Dips, Rows, Bench in that order of importance. These should be a cornerstone of your workout week.

Eating will be very important. The cleaner (no junk food) you eat the better. Aim to eat a good breakfast that includes meat, eggs, dairy and carbs. Follow that with at least 3 more meals in the day.

The rest is really just details.

El Freako said:

By tone I assume you mean muscle definition, and if you want muscle definition then you need muscle mass, and if you want muscle mass then you need to lift heavy stuff. Understand?

At 6'2 and 150lbs you essentially need to do 2 things: lift and eat, lots of both.

Try a full-body routine as these are best for beginners.

Eat lots of food, 6 times a day. Protein, complex carbs and good fats mostly, plus lots of fruit and veg for essential vitamins.

Do it.

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Yes muscle definition is what i mean and yea i was doing a full body routine that consisted of dumbell bench, leg press, overhead press, chin ups, triceps and an ab routine (which i want most to be tone) but that started to slow down cuz of school n stuff but ive made room for both work out and school so im looking forward to this.

Im definitely trying to eat/drink cleaner, i mainly drink water and juices The challenge which seems to be the greatest difficulty is the eating, working at dunkin donuts dosnt help =P lol. Right now i usually make myself an egg n cheese sandwhich in the morning for breakfast then around 930 i have a muffin. Or should i change that up with like a streak egg and cheese from the cafe at my school which is all made fresh. Then i usually have like a ham sandwich with chips and an orange. For dinner i always, i mean ALWAYS eat pasta every night and usually steak or chicken and salad.

Although the fact that you're doing a FB routine is a good start there are 2 glaring omissions: squats and deads. You will never grow at an optimum rate if you don't add these two to your repetoire.

SVT1207 said:

Yes muscle definition is what i mean and yea i was doing a full body routine that consisted of dumbell bench, leg press, overhead press, chin ups, triceps and an ab routine (which i want most to be tone) but that started to slow down cuz of school n stuff but ive made room for both work out and school so im looking forward to this.

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Like I indicated in my previous post, the most important exercises are not a bunch of chest and arm exercises. Leg press is not a squat. Squats are a great exercise for leg development, general conditioning, mid section strength (abs if you will), and make you more manly (this is not hyperbole). Deadlifts are in the same camp as squats, except they also work your back muscles and should hit the hammys (which are usually underdeveloped and a key reason for knee problems).

If you have been able to do an honest to goodness 3-5 sets of squats or deadlifts you will battle to want to do the rest of the session.

I understand the getting the workouts to happen can be an issue, but that is about having a routine. Not just a lifting routine, but a slot assigned in your diary to be there, a date assigned for solid goals to be achieved by. Take a look in the main section at Kevin Levrone's comeback thread. He has set himself a couple of goals to squat 500lb and bench 400lb and given himself 6 weeks to do each of them. You need to set yourself something similar.

SVT1207 said:

Im definitely trying to eat/drink cleaner, i mainly drink water and juices The challenge which seems to be the greatest difficulty is the eating, working at dunkin donuts dosnt help =P lol. Right now i usually make myself an egg n cheese sandwhich in the morning for breakfast then around 930 i have a muffin. Or should i change that up with like a streak egg and cheese from the cafe at my school which is all made fresh. Then i usually have like a ham sandwich with chips and an orange. For dinner i always, i mean ALWAYS eat pasta every night and usually steak or chicken and salad.

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I recommend you start a food diary. You will be surprised at how little you eat. In it you record your food eaten, the weight, the protein/carb/fat breakdown and then total that for each day.

If you don't want to start a food diary consider instead having a think about what you eat in any given day. Work out roughly what portions you are having and increase them. "An egg and cheese sandwich" is not particularly descriptive. You may be eating very little or a good amount (my guess is the former) so it is important for you to understand your portions and try to increase them. Also breakfast can be the biggest meal of the day if you want it to be. Don't be afraid to have eggs, bacon, cheese, cereal, bread/toast, tomatos, etc.

Also another point is that "juice" unless you squeeze it yourself is borderline worthless sugar. Drink water or tea. Eat fruit or get a blender to make smoothies.

I should also mention that you read some of the threads here, especially those in the articles section and those stickied at the top of the section.

tone?



Just add some mass mate..

perhaps you should begin with some word training... "tone" doesnt exist when it comes to exercise or the body

^Chewie has a point.

The phrase "muscle tone" should be banned b the Geneva Convention.

Well then yes muscle definition not "tone" and thanks for the info guys!

Muscle definition as a goal isn't much better.

Lets just aim for "muscle mass" shall we.

El Freako said:

Muscle definition as a goal isn't much better.

Lets just aim for "muscle mass" shall we.

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Needs to be a tangible goal. "Muscle mass", "muscle definition", "tone" are all quasi terminology. What is needed is a solid goal.

E.g.:

188cm and 68kg 15% BF now.
188cm and 75kg 12% BF 1st June 2010.

Please don't take these numbers literally. My point is that you need to have solid goals, especially when starting out. The example goal has a gain in muscle of 8kg while losing 2kg of fat. This will build a physique that is leaner and bigger or more "toned", or better "defined" or whatever.

Other goals like: I want to add some mass to my legs, or bench 180kg; are somewhat intangible as there is no specific goal (legs will be 70cm circumfrence) or test date (bench 180kg at PLing meet on June 30th).

El Freako said:

^Chewie has a point.

The phrase "muscle tone" should be banned b the Geneva Convention.

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I agree lol. Out of over 20 definitions for the word tone, none of them have to do with muscular detail visibility lol... Unfortunately, the media and society continues to use the phrase "muscle tone" or just "tone" (reffering to muscle definition) and people like us have to keep correcting ppl . I wish there werent any bullshit TV ads for this and that product and before and after pictures that make people think they will appear muscular or athletic just by losing fat. Build Muscle, Lose Fat lol

I'm going to chip in and say that you shouldn't worry about eating bodybuilder-clean so long as you're not eating fast food every meal. Since you seem to be pretty slim naturally, I'd just worry about eating enough.

Yes i definitely am going to work on mass more than muscle definition to start off because i know im a little on the slim side, i just need to set my goals first plus i have found it a little difficult to do regular benching. I had surgery on my sternum over the summer of 09 and i do get a slight pain on the side of my chest but not when im doing dumbbell bench. Are there any other exercises that will help work out my pecs?

co05 said:

I'm going to chip in and say that you shouldn't worry about eating bodybuilder-clean so long as you're not eating fast food every meal. Since you seem to be pretty slim naturally, I'd just worry about eating enough.

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this thing of eating like this because your only at this level, eating like that because your at that level... is rubbish imo

The better you eat, the better the results. end of story

having the discipline in the beginning is another story

^ the chick in your avi looks lazy-eyed

MrChewiebitums said:

this thing of eating like this because your only at this level, eating like that because your at that level... is rubbish imo

The better you eat, the better the results. end of story

having the discipline in the beginning is another story

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I'm not saying that he has to eat at any level. What I'm saying is that he should make sure to eat like a horse (barring the occasional meal of fast food and the like) and not kill himself over getting exactly 40g of protein in every meal.

I mean really, he's 18, 6'2" AND 150lbs, which means he's probably in college doesn't have the time to weigh his food out to the ounce and he's incredibly underweight and just needs to eat more.

Honestly, to get awesome tone... first you need some good wood. The instrument needs to be made from good wood to get nice warmth... you also need some solid electronics, nice pickup, some nice inputs... and nice amplification.

You also need a good shape and good vibrations.... If you have all these you should have a nice tone


Fuck all that exercise crap... This is what you need for great tone.